Strike action looms at Korea's national broadcaster

Reporters at South Korea's national broadcaster are considering a full-scale strike in an attempt to force the network's president and chief executive to step down.

Gil Hwan-young, head of the Korean Broadcasting System, was appointed in 2012 by the country's then president Lee Myung-bak.

KBS staff say that amounts to political interference and have accused him of compromising the network's objectivity.

"It was recently discovered that the KBS president politically intervened in the broadcasting through orders from the Cheongwadae [the presidential residence], or specifically President Park Geun-hye," said Ham Chul, a KBS producer and vice-president of the KBS Union.

We ask him to take responsibility and turn in his resignation.

Ham Chul, KBS producer

"So we ask him to take responsibility and turn in his resignation immediately."

KBS has been accused of proving inadequate coverage of the recent Sewol ferry tragedy, South Korea's worst civilian maritime disaster in 20 years.

At a rally outside network headquarters this week union members voiced concerns about the influence of the president's office.

"The role of public broadcasting is to contain political power and monitor it. That is our role," said Kwon Oh-hoon, another KBS producer and union member.

"But by following the instructions of the Park administration means KBS has given up its original role to broadcast fairly."

Gil Hwan-young has denied the allegations and insists the Korean government doesn't control what is broadcast.

KBS has this week been forced to scale back its news programming after staff launched a production boycott.

On Monday and Tuesday the normally hour-long 9pm news ran just 20 minutes due to the industrial action.

On Wednesday, staff were set to vote on whether to launch a company-wide strike.

According to internal polls at KBS, almost 98 per cent of workers support the calls for Mr Gil to resign.